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Ecosystem Effects of Boreal Forest Fires

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Boreal fire severity metrics
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Maps of derived metrics aggregated to 1 degree for (a) crown scorch, (b) vegetation combustion, and (c) total relative tree mortality (from Rogers et al., 2015, Supplementary Figure 4).

Fire Intensity and Burn Severity Metrics for Circumpolar Boreal Forests, 2001-2013

This data set provides products characterizing immediate and longer-term ecosystem changes from fires in the circumpolar boreal forests of Northern Eurasia and North America. The data include fire intensity (fire radiative power; FRP), increase in spring albedo, decrease in tree cover, normalized burn ratio, normalized difference vegetation index, and land surface temperature, as well as three derived fire metrics: crown scorch, vegetation destruction, and fire-induced tree mortality. Longer-term changes are indicated by mean albedo determined 5-12 years after fires, mean percent decrease in tree cover 5-7 years after fires, and mean annual burned percentage. The data cover the period 2001-2013 and are provided at quarter, half, and one degree resolutions for boreal forests within the 40 to 80 degree North circumpolar region. The data were derived from a variety of sources including MODIS products, climate reanalysis data, and forest inventories. A data file with identified boreal forest area (pixels), as defined by climate and vegetation type, and a file with the defined North American and Eurasian boreal forest study regions are included.

Download subsets in several projections and formats using the Spatial Data Access Tool.

Read more: Rogers, B.M., A.J. Soja, M.L. Goulden, J.T. Randerson. 2015. Influence of tree species on continental differences in boreal fires and climate feedbacks. Nature Geoscience 8, 228-234. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2352

Data Citation
Rogers, B.M., A.J. Soja, M.L. Goulden, and J.T. Randerson. 2017. Fire Intensity and Burn Severity Metrics for Circumpolar Boreal Forests, 2001-2013. ORNL DAAC, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA.
https://dx.doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/1520

Boreal fire severity metrics